Description

We needed a badge, so Brian & Jasmine sorted it out in two weeks just in time for DEF CON. Likely we'll take them to other events too! Big thanks to Brandon for putting together in the instructions & Kaylee for kitting everything up in time :). These are not for sale on Tindie, but if you need an 'I can solder badge' check out: https://www.tindie.com/products/PartFusion/i-can-solder-badge-v1/

This project log is a bit of a retrospective of the development of the Tindie Blinky LED Badge, how we made the first few hundred units, what we didn't like, what we changed, what we changed again, and how we ended up at a design we liked. Oh, the new design has a vastly reduced BOM cost, thanks to some strategic Alibaba shopping.

@Benchoff @Jasmine Brackett I just became the proud owner of two of these badges at Maker Faire UK. Want to assemble them with my children but just wondering if the PCB is lead-free HASL. Please could you enlighten so I know how much handwashing to enforce and whether I'll coat the assembled boards in clear nail varnish. Thanks

@Benchoff great article on BoM cost optimisation on the blog - many people will find that exposition of your thought process helpful and transferable.

Next post, *please* talk to us about kitting efficiently. Some people have made custom parts counters, others just go for it by hand. Perhaps a set of scales is in the middle for multiples of a single part. What's your work flow and could it be done better for a small but time saving investment? Kitting has much of the same challenges as assembly and fulfillment in general so for those who are looking to scale a project up this could be invaluable.

Too much stuff? My blinking LED was done in a few hours, including writing the firmware:https://hackaday.io/project/25689-rgb-led-fadingBut the instructions look like targeted to beginners (I never wear safety glasses while soldering :-) ) and would be more complicated to solder a SMD microcontroller and maybe even flash it (but you can buy them pre-programmed for a few cents more).